Boys infected with the AIDS virus participate in a classroom performance at a special school for AIDS-infected children in Linfen, in northern China's Shanxi province, on Nov. 30, 2011. Chinese characters on the chalkboard read "Hand in hand to prevent AIDS."

"The distribution of HIV/AIDS cases in our country is now wider and more scattered than ever, posing great difficulties for prevention and control efforts," Wu Zunyou, the director of the Center, said according to Xinhua.

The number of officially registered HIV carriers and AIDS patients in China is expected to jump from 346,000 to 780,000 by the end of 2011 after the data is updated, Xinhua said. Read the full story.

Eugene Hoshiko / AP

A mdoctor talks to guests during an AIDS awareness event on World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, 2011, in Shanghai.